An opportunity to help retired teachers

Carlos Uresti, For the Express-News

August 13, 2017

Our retired teachers deserve a better deal than either of the plans being debated by the Texas Legislature in the current special session. The Texas House overwhelmingly supports the House plan, and the Texas Senate overwhelmingly supports the Senate plan. Rather than argue over which plan is superior, we should combine them and give our retired teachers some relief they will actually feel.

The Teacher Retirement System Care plan, which provides a health insurance option to 260,000 retired teachers and their families, was facing collapse in the past legislative session due to increased health care costs. The legislature acted to temporarily buoy the system with an infusion of money, and by raising deductibles and premiums for our retired teachers, many of whom are not eligible for Social Security.

Retired teachers under the age of 65 are facing sharp increases in the premiums they pay to provide coverage for their families. Some will see their premiums rise eighteen-fold, while their deductibles and out of pocket maximums will increase by thousands of dollars. For retirees on a fixed income, many will have to choose between purchasing food and medicine each month.

While these actions temporarily save the program, now that the legislature is in special session, we have an opportunity and a duty to provide reasonable relief.

The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 19, a proposal that provides a one-time$193 million bonus to current teachers, and allocates $212 Million to TRS-Care to ease the upcoming increases to deductibles, premiums, prescription drugs, and out-of-pocket maximums. The funding source for this aid is the deferment of payments to managed care organizations by the Health and Human Services Commission by a few days. This budget deferral pushes the cost into the next biennium, when the next legislature must find the money to cover the costs.

The Texas House has also taken action, passing House Bill 20 with overwhelming support. House Bill 20 accomplishes the same goal as Senate Bill 19 of reducing deductibles and premiums, but pays for it by transferring $212.7 million from our Rainy Day Fund. This expenditure would touch less than 2 percent of the Rainy Day fund's $11 billion balance. Texas currently has the largest balance of all 46 states that have similar Rainy Day Funds.

Through both bills, retirees under age 65 would see $1,500 individual in-network deductibles come January, rather than the $3,000 that is scheduled under current law. The bills would also reduce projected premiums by about $25 for retirees over 65, and lower cost increases for retirees with adult disabled children.

Each of these solutions independently eases the sharp increases that are planned, but neither changes the fact that Texas retired teachers could be paying thousands more for their health care. Real relief to those on a fixed income would come from combining both methods. With $212 Million from the deferral, and $212.7 Million from the Rainy Day Fund, we have the opportunity to invest $424.7 Million to keep retired teacher’s health care costs affordable until the legislature can pass a permanent solution for TRS-Care.

Opinion

We have a bipartisan opportunity to use this special session to tackle a real problem facing Texas. How we treat our retired teachers has a direct impact on our ability to recruit the best and the brightest into the teaching profession that is already experiencing a teacher shortage in many areas of the state. We must reverse that trend to ensure Texas remains competitive in the global economy. Let’s combine our differences and do right by our retired teachers.